29-11-2004 09:35									#331
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Fret not, Nebraska will be back on track within two seasons at most.

	29-11-2004 09:37									#332
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I hope you're right. I'm optimistic, but who knows what can happen?

	29-11-2004 09:39									#333
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Some additional bowl facts:

Most appearences:

Alabama(51) (Tennessee is #2 !! with 44)



Nebraska & Michigan:

Nebraska is 21-21 in 42 appearences

Michigan is 18-17 in 35 appearences

Nebraska ranks fourth in all time appearences
Michigan ranks tenth in all time appearences.

Most bowl wins:

Alabama is again # 1 with 29

Tennessee ranks 5th with 23
Nebraska ranks 8th
Michigan ranks 12th

	29-11-2004 09:49									#334
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quote: I guess you enjoy unemployment more than most.

Solich is going to get a job soon enough. He's being considered for a number of openings. Recently Cincy has been inquiring as well as UNLV. And before that there was talk he may go to Army or Colorado. And those are just the jobs which are assured of being open (though they may keep Barnett at Colorado now, who knows).

	29-11-2004 09:51									#335
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quote: Originally posted by PLATO Some additional bowl facts: Most appearences: Alabama(51) (Tennessee is #2 !! with 44) Nebraska & Michigan: Nebraska is 21-21 in 42 appearences Michigan is 18-17 in 35 appearences Nebraska ranks fourth in all time appearences Michigan ranks tenth in all time appearences. Most bowl wins: Alabama is again # 1 with 29 Tennessee ranks 5th with 23 Nebraska ranks 8th Michigan ranks 12th

hmm, who has the best ratio?

who is #2 number of victories?

Jon Miller

	29-11-2004 09:54									#336
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I think it's gotta be Notre Dame... if not 2, then 3.

	29-11-2004 10:11									#337
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Arkansas's season ended last Friday with the 43-14 loss against LSU at War Memorial in Little Rock. We were holding okay until the second half, which was just 20-14 IIRC. This ends a big deal in Arkansas: Houston Nutt's 17-0 streak in Little Rock. And we are 5-6 so no bowl game, breaking Houston Nutt's 6-year bowl streak. AR hero Matt Jones was still hurt from his hamstring and groin injuries, and that's just the way it goes sometimes. But we still had a fairly decent season. When you remove the "Arkansas will go undefeated" nuts from the average expectations, we did better than we were expected to, I figure.

As for next year? Arkansas will go undefeated.

	29-11-2004 15:45									#338
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quote: Solich is going to get a job soon enough. He's being considered for a number of openings. Recently Cincy has been inquiring as well as UNLV. And before that there was talk he may go to Army

Yes, he's clearly in demand by quality programs...

	29-11-2004 17:41									#339
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quote: Originally posted by Jon Miller hmm, who has the best ratio? who is #2 number of victories? Jon Miller

Best bowl winning % (minimum 20 appearances)

Georgia Tech 65.6%
Penn State 64.9%
Southern Cal 64.3%
Oklahoma 63.5%
Mississippi 61.3%
Alabama 59.8%
Syracuse 59.5%
Florida State 59.4%
Georgia 57.7%
Miami (FL) 57.1 %

Others of note:
Tennessee (#14) 52.3%
Michigan (#17) 51.4%
Nebraska (#19) 50%

Most Bowl Victories:
Alabama 29
Southern Cal 27
Oklahoma 23
Penn State 23
Tennessee 23
Georgia 21
Georgia Tech 21
Nebraska 21
Texas 20
Mississippi 19

Others of Note:
Michigan (#12) 18

	29-11-2004 18:21									#340
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quote: Originally posted by mrmitchell Arkansas's season ended last Friday with the 43-14 loss against LSU at War Memorial in Little Rock. We were holding okay until the second half, which was just 20-14 IIRC. This ends a big deal in Arkansas: Houston Nutt's 17-0 streak in Little Rock. And we are 5-6 so no bowl game, breaking Houston Nutt's 6-year bowl streak. AR hero Matt Jones was still hurt from his hamstring and groin injuries, and that's just the way it goes sometimes. But we still had a fairly decent season. When you remove the "Arkansas will go undefeated" nuts from the average expectations, we did better than we were expected to, I figure. As for next year? Arkansas will go undefeated.

that is my kind of projection!!!!

Ark did better then expected before the season started, but once we played Texas close, the expectations grew, as usual.

	30-11-2004 23:33									#341
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Wow! Tyrone Willingham appears to be out at Notre Dame. Hello Urban Meyer (which prety much screws over Florida).

	30-11-2004 23:36									#342
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WOW... that's just a bad move by Notre Dame... seriously.

And, personally, I think Meyer stays at Utah.

	30-11-2004 23:39									#343
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Urban Meyer has a specific out in his contract for Notre Dame. I don't think he will stay if Notre Dame is offered to him.

	30-11-2004 23:40									#344
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I realize that, but his family really seems to love Utah. I'm not sure he'd move if his family pushed on him to stay.

	30-11-2004 23:43									#345
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You don't put a specific out like that in your contract unless it really is your dream job. The whole world of being a coach puts career first. Any wife who would demand family comes first would never have married a coach in the first place.

	30-11-2004 23:45									#346
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I think that having that as an out when he started with Utah 2 years ago is much different than having it now, seeing the state ND is in now .

	30-11-2004 23:47									#347
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ND pays a lot more and ancillary income potential is much higher too (endorsements, tv/radio shows, etc.).

	01-12-2004 04:17									#348
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This is one of those situations where the move is both inherently stupid and smart.

Stupid since, given one more year, Willingham would have turned the corner - he got more out of Davie's players his first year, then had these two awkward years while transitioning from Davie's guys to his guys, and now, if the pattern had held, would have gotten back to the 2002 levels at least next year - and now they'll have to start all over again.

Smart, because Urban Meyer's the type of coach they can build an identity around given his offensive system, and this (and not Florida - Butch Davis in the Swamp next year, mark my words) is the job worth leaving a great situation at Utah for. One caveat: As good as his offense is, it'll be that much better once he figures out how to use it from under center...

	01-12-2004 05:25									#349
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Since everyone is certain that Meyer is leaving Utah, I find myself wondering who Utah should hire to replace him.

ACK!

	01-12-2004 06:01									#350
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Perhaps Meyer will leave, but I don't see the success at Notre Dame as in Utah, especially initially. Notre Dame doesn't have the players to run the spread flexbone offense Meyer runs. He better be careful he doesn't walk into the same situation Willingham found himself in, getting fired right before you get your players taking control of the team.

	01-12-2004 07:03									#351
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Wow. I didn't expect Willingham to be gone. Part of it might have been that Notre Dame wasn't getting the best recruits. Rocket Ismail said none of the current starters would have started when he was around. Most of the time, Irish greats don't criticize their own.

Personally, I have seen a fall-off in the athleticism of the team over the last several years. Rocket was an athlete first and a football player second. Some of this wasn't Willingham's fault -- it started in the last years under Holtz. But Willingham was still using all of the defensive players that Davie had recruited in his last year. Doesn't look like he developed much of his own. The meltdown in the ND secondary was because they seemed to lack athleticism.

I don't know about Meyer. Only 2 years at Utah. He could probably use some more seasoning. I would be interested in hearing more about him, especially his offense. The fact is that because of its routinely tough schedule, Notre Dame needs a good running game. Passing game-centered offenses seem to have too much variability.

Here's a list of possibles from ESPN...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/colum..._pat&id=1935210

	01-12-2004 10:17									#352
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I've been reading a lot of articles this evening about the Ty Willingham era and the best one appears to be the following from John Walters in Sports Illustrated...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20.../30/willingham/

	01-12-2004 10:20									#353
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Three years isn't long enough to judge a coach. You need at least 5.

edit:

quote: September 9, 2000, was my lowest moment as a Notre Dame fan and alum. The top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers invaded South Bend and so did their fans. So many alums had scalped their tickets to Husker fans that Notre Dame Stadium became a sea of red. The rest of us were a sea of red faces.

Great article, Dan...

	01-12-2004 10:20									#354
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Hell, they gave Davie 5 years!

	01-12-2004 10:27									#355
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quote: Originally posted by DanS I've been reading a lot of articles this evening about the Ty Willingham era and the best one appears to be the following from John Walters in Sports Illustrated... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20.../30/willingham/

Very interesting... especially the 'black athlete' part. I wonder if firing Willingham so quickly will turn off more blacks to Notre Dame.

	01-12-2004 10:29									#356
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Nebraska's got way too many white kids, too. Starting three white linebackers equals trouble and is definitely indicative of poor recruiting...

	01-12-2004 10:53									#357
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I don't think Willingham helped with recruiting fast and quick black kids in the first place, so I guess him leaving won't leave ND any poorer in that category.

You should be able to recruit a top class of athletes almost every year at ND. ND is on national TV every week. It has the most players in the NFL. It graduates its athletes and gives them a reasonably good education.

My dad has a theory that the players didn't want to go to ND because of the facilities -- why go to a place that has decades-old facilities when you could get waited on hand and foot in immaculate digs at some place like Ohio State? The weather in South Bend can't help either. Luckily, ND is correcting the facilities with a little investment.

	01-12-2004 10:55									#358
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True, but my observation on the black athletes is that many don't have a good view of ND in the first place. Having Willingham there for a number of years could have helped reverse the idea that ND isn't as hospitible for the black student athelete.

	01-12-2004 11:03									#359
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I don't know how black student-athletes view ND with regard to race relations.

	01-12-2004 11:10									#360
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Back when Willingham was hired there was some talk about it. Don't know if it was exaggerated, but it seemed a lot of the pundits (especially Michael Wilbon) was talking about the less than stellar reputation ND has with black student athletes.